Ten Uses for Hydrogen Peroxide

Besides the odd scraped knee and that one fateful summer when you decided you’d look better as a blonde, your bottle of hydrogen peroxide probably sits all alone sad and lonely in your medicine cabinet.  Would it surprise you to know that there are so many things you can do with hydrogen peroxide?  Here are some of the ways you can use it before it goes to waste just sitting in the cabinet.

1. Whiten your whites and brighten your brights. Works wonderfully as a bleach alternative that you can also use on colors.  Just put the hydrogen peroxide in the bleach receptacle in washer.
2. Toilet bowl cleaner. Pour 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide into the bowl, let stand for 20 minutes, and scrub clean.
3. Antiseptic. Works great to help kill germs and prevent infection on cuts and scrapes.  Make sure it bubbles up first though before dabbing it off.
4. Cutting board and counter top sanitizer. Vinegar kills most germs, and hydrogen peroxide kills most of the rest.  The two kill more germs and bacteria than bleach alone, if you do this:  have the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in two different spray bottles, spray on one first, then the other.  Then rinse clean.
5. Stain remover. Works very well on blood as long as you get to it fairly quickly.  I learned this from my mom.  She used to use hydrogen peroxide all the time on our clothes when we’d skin a knee or get a cut. Just pour a bit on a cloth and dab at your clothing; if it has sat for a while, pour some on and let it sit for a couple of hours.   Also, some people just have a chemical difference in their sweat that leaves yellow underarm stains on white clothing.  Or wine stains on a white blouse?  Pour some hydrogen peroxide on the stain and let it sit a couple hours.  Then wash as you would normally.
6. Kill shower mold and mildew. Spray on the surface and let sit, then wipe clean.  Or spray after your shower to prevent mold from forming.
7. Mouthwash. You can use it straight or mix 1 to 1, water to hydrogen peroxide.  Gargle, Swoosh, Spit, and Rinse.  This works well if you have canker sores or other mouth sores.
8. For faster germination when soaking seeds. Apparently if you soak your seeds in 1 cup of water mixed with 1.5 t hydrogen peroxide, the seeds will germinate faster.
9. Toothpaste. You can make your own toothpaste like my mom used to do by using two tablespoons of baking soda and one tablespoon of peroxide.
10. Watering your plants. If you tend to over-water your plants, this is for you.  Mix 1 oz of hydrogen peroxide with 1 quart of water, and water your plants normally.  This adds oxygen to your soil, helping stave off root rot and enhances root development.  I do this particularly with plants whose soil is overly dense and more prone to water-logging.